Wednesday, July 06, 2016

The Chilcot report has been published, and its official: Blair lied. He lied about WMD. He lied about the necessity of going to war. He lied about the consequences.

His lies cost at least 150,000 Iraqi lives and created at least a million Iraqi refugees. And he and his co-conspirators - Foreign Secretary jack Straw, JIC Chief John Scarlett, MI6 head Richard Dearlove, plus George W Bush and all his wretched little NeoCon minions - must be held to account for them.

Chilcot said he had not made any conclusions about the legality of the war, saying that it was the place of a properly constituted international tribunal. It is now time for such a Tribunal. Aggression has always been a crime under international law, and it is only foot-dragging by states parties which prevents the ICC from exercising jurisdiction over it. But if the ICC can't, then the UN and the international community must - just as they did for Yugoslavia, just as they did for Rwanda, and just as they did for the Nazis.

it is not enough for the establishment to disown Blair and his co-conspirators, to say that they were wrong. They must actually be held to account for their crimes. Because if they're not punished, if they have impunity form justice, then their successors will simply commit more such crimes.

Finally, if there's one overwhelming lesson to be learned from Chilcot, it is this: Do not invade anyone, ever. Sadly, the British establishment, raised on nostalgia for imperial glory and a toxic "special relationship" with the US, is unlikely to learn it. Which is why they need to be driven out, permanently. Their replacement will probably be just as shit, but they'll at least be shit in a different, and hopefully less destructive way.